“Adina!” a voice shouted in the night. The sound was followed by the ruffling of night life and footsteps fast approaching.
Adina gasped. Whoever called out knew who she was, but she did not recognize the voice. Gripping the wooden rail with all the strength her little hands could manage, she peered into the bleak night with a frown. There! A large mass of shadow was running toward her. She took a step back and filled her lungs with air, prepared to scream when Tiger ran into the clearing. His body was illuminated just enough by the porch light for Adina to recognize him.
“Tiger?” she questioned, confused as to his presence.
“We need to go. Now!” he growled, his voice a low rumble. He ran up the few porch steps and grabbed her arm before hauling her back in the direction he had just come from. Adina stumbled and tried to pull her arm free. She could not move as fast as he could.
“Tiger, I’m barefoot. And I don’t feel so good, and I think Chest--”
In a millisecond, Tiger had Adina’s back pushed against a tree and his hand covering her mouth with a fierce grip. Adina’s breath caught when she noticed his eyes glowing in the black night.
“For the love of all things living, don’t say his name!” Tiger growled, his voice animalistic. “I am risking my neck for you. I am risking Caroline’s and our baby’s life. Now shut up and don’t make me regret my decision to help. Just run.”
Not giving her a second to think, he grabbed her arm and began sprinting a path in the woods. Adina cried in confusion and in pain. No one had ever yelled at her like that. Had she done something wrong? If so, what? Why was Caroline’s life in danger? What was going on?
Adina screamed when a rock sliced her foot, but Tiger did not slow or loosen his grip. Adina struggled to keep up with him. The distance was short but felt so long before they broke through the trees and ran onto a gravel parking lot.
Tiger shoved Adina into the front passenger seat and darted over to the driver’s side. They were peeling out in under ten seconds.
Tiger’s canines were digging into his lips the whole drive home. His knuckles furry and tight, claws extended into the leather steering wheel. He was speeding, but he did not care. His eyes flicked to the dashboard, constantly making sure they would have enough gas.
Adina was able to stop crying after about ten minutes, but she figured it was either a lack of water to make tears or fatigue. Possibly both. She felt drugged, utterly exhausted. Her head fell against the side window and slid down. She might have felt self-conscious had she not passed out.
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“Tiger, what happened? Is she alright?”
Adina struggled to open her eyes as she awoken to a fog. She thought she could recognize that feminine voice.
“I may have scared her,” Tiger grunted.
Adina frowned and tried to roll over, but whatever was holding her tightened its grip. She tried to push against the block she was up against. The firm block felt much harder than the leather seat she fell asleep on.
“Adina, it’s Caroline. If you can hear me, calm down! Tiger’s just carrying you to your room,” Caroline’s gentle voice reprimanded.
Adina shook her head and tried to move out of Tiger’s grip, not feeling comfortable in his arms one bit, but Caroline’s hands helped still her.
A moment later, Adina felt herself being laid down upon soft, familiar sheets. Burying her nose into her plush blanket, the strong scent of coconuts filled her senses. Peaking open a dry and crusty eye, she looked around the small room. She was back in her dorm room!
“Ah!” she yelled and buried her head beneath her arms when someone turned a small lamp on. The light stung her sore eyes.
“Adina, I need you to look at me,” Tiger said. The bed dipped beneath his muscular weight as he sat beside Adina. “I know it hurts, girl, but trust me. Just open your eyes.”
Adina shook her head. Tiger was mean. She didn’t want to look at him. The bed moved again when someone sat behind her. It had to have been Caroline, for Adina recognized the girl’s soft touch, gently rubbing circles on Adina’s back.
“Please, Adina, trust us. We want to make sure you are all right.”
Adina sighed, and tried to withhold her fear and tears. Slowly, she opened her eyes and inch by inch raised her robin blue eyes to meet Tiger’s dark chocolate ones. She was thankful to see only concern, and not the ferocious anger he displayed in the woods.
Tiger sighed after a moment and gently patted Adina’s cheek with his hand. Standing from the bed, he kissed the top of Adina’s head. He started pulling back Adina’s blankets and gave a look to Caroline.
Nodding, Caroline helped Adina stand and find her pajamas. Five minutes later, the couple was tucking Adina in.
Although the young girl was still frightened and confused, her utter exhaustion outweighed all else. By the time Tiger pulled her dorm room door shut, she was asleep.
Caroline watched with a weary eye as Tiger gently close the door. As soon as she heard the door click, she was in his face. “Now will you tell me what is going on?” she whisper-yelled.
Tiger cast her a look, and Caroline would have thought it would have been angered or dark, but she was shocked when it was one of the most tender looks he had ever given her.
Her lips parted in confusion, and Tiger ran the rough pad of his finger down her cheek. He did not give her time to question him again, for he promptly kissed her.
Caroline wobbled when he finally released her, but thankfully his strong hands were holding her against his chest. It had been a long time since he had kissed her like that.
If she remembered correctly, which her memory was questionable at the moment after a mind-blowing kiss like that, only their first kiss had been so...well...Caroline blushed.
“What was that fo--”
Tiger cut her off with a quick kiss and the led her by her arm to her room. He opened the door and finally let go of Caroline’s arm. She closed the door and turned around, gasping at the sight before her.
Tiger had dragged her suitcase out of her closet and was emptying her clothes into it. Her nice, neatly arranged, expensive, steamed and ironed, clothes. Her jaw dropped. Did he just toss her new 300 dollar pair of heels in there? Oh no he didn’t.
“Tiger!” she shouted and flung herself upon him, stopping him from doing more damage. She may have been pregnant and curvy, but her five foot two body was no match for Tiger’s muscular form. He was a whole foot taller than her and not afraid to use it. He stood up with her wrapped around him, and dumped her on the bed.
She looked up at him with questioning eyes and ran her manicured nails down the side of his face. He closed his eyes and purred, bringing his head down to rest against hers.
“Stop distracting me,” he growled and gently bit Caroline’s neck.
“Me? You’re the one doing all the distracting. Will you tell me what’s going on?”
“You’re going to New Mexico.”
Caroline stilled. Mood killer. She would have kicked Tiger away from her but he had already moved back. He went back to her closet and again began emptying it. He spoke before Caroline could question him.
“I intervened. God help me, I intervened between mates.”
“Tiger,” Caroline began gently, but he cut her off.
His eyes were wild and his inner tiger was very unhappy at the moment. And an unhappy Tiger was an unpredictable and very angry Tiger.
“I shouldn’t have done it, but oh God, did I do it.”
“Do what?” Caroline asked, trying not to yell. He was scaring her, and he could tell. He pounced onto the bed beside her and wrapped her in his embrace. His teeth were on her neck and gnawing. Caroline tensed.
“May I?” he asked, his voice rough and dangerous.
Caroline nodded. She hated it when he bit her. He had only done it twice before, and it hurt so bad, but she also knew he only did it when he needed to. Somehow it pacified him, and it was beyond evident that he needed comfort.
She bit into her hand to muffle her scream when his teeth sharpened gently and pierced into her soft skin. This time he was not quick, but he worried the flesh and then sucked it gently.
“Better?” Caroline gasped when he finally pulled away. Stars were twinkling in her eyes from the pain.
Tiger leaned back and nodded. “But you’re still leaving for New Mexico. Tonight. And Caroline, you are not to come back here. Ever. Do you understand me?”
Caroline’s shoulders slumped. “No, I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
“Adina’s mate is a snake.”
Caroline’s tan eyes grew perplexed. “He’s a jerk?”
Tiger leaned his head back and growled. “No, he’s a Were-snake. It’s the worst kind, baby, and I didn’t want to leave her there with him. These guys, when they retaliate, and they will, it ain’t pretty. It’s the exact, gruesome opposite. He’ll probably pick up my scent, and trace me to you. The only way I can make sure you are safe, is if you go live with my family until this mess gets sorted. Now, I saved Adina for you, so you will do this for me. No arguments. You understand?”
Caroline looked around her dorm room. She had lived two and a half years in that very room. A quarter of her closet was still hanging up. Her whole life it seemed was in this room. “Tonight?” she asked, trying not to cry.
Tiger frowned, hating what the snake made him do to his own mate, but it had to be done. Tiger knew how much Caroline loved her independence, her own room. Out in California, she had to share her room with her youngster twin sisters. Her freedom was part of the reason why she didn’t want to move in with him just yet. And now she was being sent away to live with a pack of some of the most clingy breed of people Tiger knew.
He growled, pressing Caroline back into the mattress.
“I will find a way to make it up to you, baby, I promise, but I need you safe and alive. I’ll make it up to you,” he promised again, gently kissing Caroline.
She nodded, receiving his promise and agreeing to the terms. She couldn’t believe she would be leaving. So many memories would be left behind.
She could have cried in gratefulness when Tiger gave her one more. Instead of her final night ending with an argument, misunderstanding, and desertion, she and Tiger quietly made love in the late hours in her room one last time.